It's bad for you when you sit around and eat it with a spoon all the time

I agree that it is nice to give back--and even nicer when you do it all year round instead of just for a few weeks. But I don't see the harm in giving up something for yourself. It's hardly a harmful belief.

It's bad for you when you sit around and eat it with a spoon all the time

I agree that it is nice to give back--and even nicer when you do it all year round instead of just for a few weeks. But I don't see the harm in giving up something for yourself. It's hardly a harmful belief.

no I agree, not harmful just utterly silly...

and PB is a fav of mine. get the all natural one and the fat in it isn't even bad fat.. just don't eat an entire jar everyday. it is quite addicting though. Sometimes I do what you do.

I don't think Lent is silly. I don't participate in it very often, but it's basically a tool for examining your life and being a little more intentional about something you consume/put in your body/participate in which you normall wouldn't. I think that's a good thing for people to do, regardless of their faith. Being mindful and intentional about how you live your life isn't silly.

Not to be rude, especially since you're usually rational, but that's not something to be proud of. In this thread, or ever.

Anyway, I'm giving up elevators as per tradition. Also going to be going through and donating of about half of my clothes, it's long overdue and Lent is the perfect time to do it. Putting some JCers on ignore. No white bread or white rice. More meditation/prayer.

i found ramadan way more meaningful/fulfilling than lent, tbqh, having participated in both

Having never participated in either, I'm curious. What was your experience with Ramadan like, and how was it different? (I mean, I know the differences--Ramadan is no eating when the sun is up for 40 days--but I'm curious as to how it felt more meaningful for you.)

I don't think Lent is silly. I don't participate in it very often, but it's basically a tool for examining your life and being a little more intentional about something you consume/put in your body/participate in which you normall wouldn't. I think that's a good thing for people to do, regardless of their faith. Being mindful and intentional about how you live your life isn't silly.

This is precisely how I feel. Regardless of motivation, examining your habits once a year and choosing to change said habits is a good thing. I don't know of a single time when someone decided to do something for Lent that negatively impacted other people. Almost all Catholics I know make an extra effort to do more good than they normally do. Would it be better if they did this all year round? Of course. Would it be better if your self-examination was based in secular, vice religious reasons? Debatable. But just because one thing may or may not be better doesn't mean that Lent is not a good tradition.

None of these hours are meant to be strictly adhered to, but they provide an outline tfor the general time of day the different Hours are to be prayed. All Clergy and religious are bound to pray it everyday and the laity while not required are also encouraged to pray as much of it as often possible.

It is this public sacred work that has inspired artists to produce some of the most sublime and gorgeous sacred art and music.

i found ramadan way more meaningful/fulfilling than lent, tbqh, having participated in both

Having never participated in either, I'm curious. What was your experience with Ramadan like, and how was it different? (I mean, I know the differences--Ramadan is no eating when the sun is up for 40 days--but I'm curious as to how it felt more meaningful for you.)

i did lent once as a teenager. i gave up candy and video games and committed to volunteer for 40 hours during the month. ive met countless catholics and seen countless facebook status updates on whatever it is they're giving up for lent. i am of catholic ancestry though my family hardly practices and ive was functionally atheistic from a young age. i participated in lent as a confirmed unbeliever but out of curiosity and pride in my catholic heritage, a pride which i retain despite the disdain for lent (as ive seen it practiced in modern, american society) that im going to elaborate at length about in this post

ive done two partial ramadans and a whole one. first one i didnt last a week, second one i made it about 2 and a half weeks, final time i did the whole month. ive also participated in 5 eid al-fitr (end of ramadan) celebrations. ive hung out with a good number of muslims during the years and they're much less vocal to outsiders about ramadan than catholics are about their big lent sacrifices, but ive been close enough to many of them to get some info on what they were going through.

i dated a muslim for 4 years and aside from curiosity, my desire to support and empathize with her during this yearly trial was the proximate reason for my participation in ramadan as an unbeliever. the first year we dated i was like "haha yeah that sucks *goes back to eating pork sandwich*". the second year i was like "eh maybe i should give it a shot" and then i cheated a bunch and gave up pretty quick ("whaddya mean i cant drink water? that ****'s DANGEROUS. we live in the desert and im prone to kidney stones, woman!"). the third year i still cheated with some water here and there and i gave up once i got distracted/stressed out by a tough class i was in at the time. the fourth year i finally made it a whole month and im proud to say i got the hang of avoiding even water during the day. the real trick is you gotta get up way early, (about 4am, around here) and weigh yourself down with food/drink before the sun rises. once i got good at committing to this despite not being a morning person, it was tolerable.

ramadan, for the reasons as0 pointed out, just feels more real, rough, and ultimately more fulfilling. also deprivation of food and water is a pretty good way to activate the spiritual side of one's consciousness (see also vision quests, sweat lodges, and other types of fasting). some stuff is just individual choice that probably varies. muslims ive known generally spend a good jot of time every day during ramadan on Qur'an study (again, in a food and drink deprived state that im sure enhances their ability to spiritually connect with the material). people also are encouraged to do a lot of extra prayer on top of the usual 5 a day.

in addition to the spirtitual experience of it, there's a community-building element of ramadan that was way more intense than anything catholics have (and catholics are admittedly often better at communal stuff than many other christians). breaking the fast at the end of the day and particularly at the end of the month becomes this huge communal experience with fellow muslims. daily. muslims during ramadan often have guests for breaking the fast or are guests themselves every day. not to mention getting up before dawn and shoving food in your face as quickly as possible before the sun rises with your friends and family can be rather harrowing/community building. volunteering and other community activity is also extra common during ramadan because anything you do during that month is seen as magnified (five-fold, if i remember correctly) for spiritual consideration

meanwhile lent in the modern western world is pretty convenient. there's a reason most of the serious posts itt read like new years resolutions at best and half-hearted elimination diets from the back pages of SELF magazine at worst. id say if you want a spiritually-fulfilling, camaraderie-building experience ramadan is the way to go. lent, as ive seen modern catholics practice it, is much more isolated, individualistic, and ultimately shallow experience. certainly more convenient tho.